It seems that slowly, slowly governments are waking up to the dangers of the neonicotinoid pesticides. Let us hope they do not drag their feet for much longer. How many bees have you seen this spring? We have far fewer feeding at the farm. In spite of a tremendous display of cherry blossom we have…
It has been reported in the press this week that a replica of the Grotte Chauvet has been created. It will be open to the public by the time you read this. The original, containing thousands of prehistoric animal and figure drawings, will no longer be accessible to visitors because our human presence is putting…
I am a little late to the table with this due to a heavy workload this week, so sincere apologies. However, better late than not at all because I think it is exceedingly important to mark this moment in our fight for the safekeeping of the honeybee, for all pollinators and for the natural order…
If you haven’t signed this yet, please do. It is vital https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_us_pet_loc/?bhNkKeb&v=46969
Hello! Are you glad Easter is behind you? Ours has been wet although yesterday morning it cleared up and the sun is now shining and promises to remain with us for at least another week. Fortunately, the two days of heavy rain have really irrigated the land. It was in dire need of it. We…
I have been focusing quite a bit on war recently so I thought for this month’s blog I would choose a subject that is closer to home and of a lighter aspect. A love story. This true story is set along the Côte d’Azur, the Blue Coast, but it began in the north of France…
It has been a while since I have written a blog for this page and I apologise. Life seems to have overtaken me these last few months. Aside from my days of writing, I have been travelling, but a little less than usual. I have just returned from a short trip to Thessaloniki in northern…
A very innovative way of creating awareness of honeybee loss: http://www.louismasai.com/#!outside-bees-2014/cnwh The Bee Cause. Dear Carol, Giant chemical company Bayer just tried to sue Friends of the Earth Germany over its claims that a pesticide called thiacloprid harms bees. They lost. The German judge ruled in Friends of the Earth Germany’s favour, saying that they had a right…
Last month I wrote a little about the events surrounding the Charlie Hebdo massacres in Paris along with my reflections, observations while travelling in Algeria seven years ago. I am continuing along a similar theme today: Algeria and a broad brushstroke of the events that led to the Algerian War of Independence. The French colonial…
Thank you Michael Sutton for this informative little film about honeybees: "Apis Mellifera: Honey Bee" a high-speed short from Michael N Sutton / @MNS1974 on Vimeo. I have signed this. Perhaps you would like to as well? http://action.foe.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16305 It is good to hear that British urban bees are surviving and should point the way for…
I am writing this from the Eurostar on the way back to Paris. The France Show is over for another year, our Olive Farm lunch (anyone from the Olive Farm Facebook page who attends the France Show is welcome to join us for this annual event) is also behind us. Both were great fun. I…
I have been sent this link by beekeeper in Devon, England. It looks like a terrific way to get in touch with bees and beekeeping and to support them. http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/ for those of you living in or near the Hudson Valley, New York, this looks like a terrific organisation. http://www.ulsterbees.org/Ulster_County_Beekeepers/Welcome.html
I am writing this ahead of my regular blog date because I will be away on a work commitment and possibly without internet. Much could happen between today and the 26th… However… This month of January has been a tragic opening to the year of 2015. One of the murdered Charlie Hebdo team collaborated with…
On Christmas Eve 1914 in northern France a frost set in. It had been raining for weeks, filling the trenches to waist height with water, soaking spirits, drowning hope. So acute was this drop in temperature, that it froze solid the soldiers’ great coats and hardened their boots. The men themselves were “frozen to the…
Dear friend, This will be the briefest of Newsletters and will not contain a great deal of news! I am intending to deliver my new novel later today or tomorrow so I am DEEP in the world of my ‘lost domain’. As you can see from the photograph, I have recently returned from a week…
This one is a bit urgent. Deadline 22nd December to sign, Please USA, sign this. I have. Thank you. Friends of the Earth U.S. : Tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: suspend neonics now! We only have until December 22nd to comment and tell the EPA to protect bees, not chemical companies’ profits, and suspend…
This month, on 9th November, six weeks after Scotland voted to remain a part of Great Britain, ‘a self-determination referendum’ was held in Catalonia. The citizen participation process on Catalonia’s political future was originally the ‘Catalan Independence Referendum’ but was rebranded as a ‘popular consultation’ after the original was suspended by the Constitutional Court of…
I found this during various researches and think it is inspiring. From Portland, Oregan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLXgxNSwaY8 I think this is worth reposting. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/doctors-nurses-urge-ban-on-neonic-pesticides/article21605544/ I have signed. Perhaps you would like to too? https://secure3.convio.net/lcv/site/Advocacy?page=UserAction&id=1835&s_src=CK-LCV-BEE-A03-FB-FBLP.D-FKW.OCPM-US-AN112-BO-18p-T01.P01.C02.D01 This is worth a read http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/science/clues-to-bees-history-tucked-away-in-drawers.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=2&referrer
I have just returned from a brief stay in Palermo and the western coast of Sicily. Autumn at the heart of the Mediterranean can hardly be bettered. The grape harvests have been completed, the olives are soon to picked and the weather is usually absolutely splendid. I first visited Sicily in 2005. This trip kept…
This post will talk a little about my recent travels rather than promoting anything new in my work field. It is another ‘while-I-write-my-novel’ post. It has been a busy month in terms of travelling. I spent a week in Sicily – I have written about this for my 26th October post for the History Girls…